


Mirage

by wonderfulchaos



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: 500themes, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Major Character Injury, What if Scenario, theme - of blood and honor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 13:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9326795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderfulchaos/pseuds/wonderfulchaos
Summary: In the midst of an ambush, Mahiru places the lives of others before his own. The results vary, depending on who you ask.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Someone on tumblr suggested for the Subclass Mahiru series to have Kuro and Mahiru still bonded as Eve and Servamp. I have some theories on what would become of an Eve that was made into a Subclass, most of them unpleasant, but for this prompt I went the high route. No one dies, loses their mind, or anything of the sort. Though Hyde gets into a bit of trouble for playing with fire, but what's new.

The alley was a cramped place for a fight, but Lawless thrived on the spotlight it put him in. The enemies’ attention focused on him as he fought. Every flicker of the blade, every flash of light along with the littlest of movements. He was on top of a stage, and his director was calling, “Get down, you shitty rat!”

That was his cue and he ducked, allowing the Subclass to take a swipe above his head, hitting nothing but air. He straightened with a smile, hands in his pockets, asking their crowd, “Well then, should we put an end to this charade?” From somewhere behind him, he heard his big brother telling his Eve to stand back, finally ready to get serious.

Together, this would be a quick end to the ambush that had besieged them so. “Be careful,” Sloth’s Eve was saying, worrying for his contracted vampire, but still trusting him to get the job done. With a playful slowness, Lawless turned to his own Eve, clasping his hands and blinking in that coquettish way that young maidens did upon the stage. “Do you have something to tell me, too, oh bright Angel?”

Licht kicked him in the shins, gritting his teeth as he told him, “Don’t die or else.” It sounded like a proposition and Lawless pretended to light up, his hands under his chin, “Oh, is that a challenge?” The next kick was aimed a little higher and a little too close to something he valued. “Ahhh, this must be what people mean when they say they’ve seen an avenging angel!”

Teasing aside, he made sure to keep Licht out of the battle as much as Sleepy Ash was prone to doing. Difficult, given that both their Eves were the type to jump into the fray, heedless of the danger. At least Licht knew the consequences of his actions, all too aware his career would come to a staggering halt should his hands be damaged in the midsts of a fight, but the other Eve -

Lawless kept glancing over to the end of the alley more than he should. To the place where Sloth’s Eve stood. To where Ash had requested the boy stay for the time being. There were cuts on Mahiru’s legs, where the skin had been exposed, and a long scratch on the side of his neck. In the boy’s hands, he clutched his Lead, a darkly glowing spear, his head arched back against the wall as he panted and tried to keep his wits about him. The kid still wasn’t used to long battles with large numbers, but it wasn’t like they encountered situations like this every day. He couldn’t fault a teenage boy for being out of his element. The self-proclaimed Angel aside, it wasn’t for everyone, this lifestyle of theirs. He wondered what Sloth was thinking, how he could keep a boy like this around.

 _It’ll be your downfall_ , he remembered thinking long ago, what felt like ages now upon that rooftop. It wasn’t a wrong prediction; he had seen the beginnings of the end reflected back at him that night. He knew the warning signs when he saw them. In the way that Sloth was overprotective and insisted Mahiru stay out of the way, like now. In the way that his brother purposely blocked any of the Subclass that tried to get around him. In the way that Lawless wasn’t the only one glancing back to look at Mahiru and check on his condition, his safety. He wasn’t the only one getting more scratches than needed because he was distracted.

 _What would it be like_ , he wondered, _to have an Eve that would let someone else take care of them?_ That was the difference. Licht was too headstrong for that, and his Eves since Ophelia had been nothing but self-destructing celebrities that had wanted nothing but his protection and abilities. _What would it be like to be one half of a somebody, like them? Two minds, two bodies, one soul._ Poetic, and doomed. It had slipped through his fingers once, the possibility of such a thing. Perhaps he was a fool for wanting to see it last.

“Stay away!” His attention caught, Lawless turned in the direction of the shout. It had been faint, breathlessly spoken, but he had heard it and that was what spurred him into motion. Ash hadn’t noticed yet, and Licht was busy with holding off a ridiculous number of assailants with even more ridiculous ease. That left him as the only one who could do something about what he saw play out.

The shout hadn’t been directed at an approaching Subclass, who was sneaking up on the kid’s exposed back, but a pair of school children who were about turn down into the alley. The local elementary had let out ages ago, but these two children had chosen dusk as a good time to head home. In this area, that was like asking for bad things to happen.

He was too late to do anything but watch as Mahiru spun back around, locking weapons with the Subclass that had practically been breathing down his neck. Too late to do anything but watch as the Subclass slipped a knife into their free hand and plunged it into the boy’s unguarded side. With a shriek, the children took off running in the opposite direction, one small mercy, but Mahiru had dropped his weapon, clutching at his injury. Unprotected and too vulnerable, defiant eyes glaring up at the attacking Subclass. It reminded Lawless too much of another time, another place, and another person he couldn’t protect.

 _I won’t let it happen again_ , he decided, grabbing the Subclass by the hair and digging his fangs into a defenseless neck. _Ashes to ashes, dust to dust_ , he thought, clapping his hands together and rubbing off the grime that had congealed there. He stuck out his tongue and started to shake his hands to be rid of the rest. “Yuck,” he made sure to emphasize. “Now then,” his eyes gleamed, a wicked smile on his face, “having problems, Mahiru?”

“’m fine,” the boy panted. His hair fell in front of his eyes, masking the pain he was surely feeling but determinedly biting down on, “Go! Help Kuro. And Licht. I’ll … be fi -” He slumped to the side, expression shuttering, and Lawless was there for him to lean on, wrapping his arm around the boy’s waist, pulling the boy’s other arm around his shoulders.

“Nonsense, they’re almost done. Let’s have a change of scenery, shall we?” Without waiting, he dragged the boy with him. They received odd looks from passerbys, but they both dutifully ignored them and kept going until they found a secluded spot to take refuge in. An abandoned park, children having run off home as soon as the sun kissed the horizon, a yawning darkness spreading across the ground in its place. He placed Mahiru on a swing and knelt down to assess the wound, pressing tentatively.

It was deep, his fingers came back coated in copper. He wiped the blood onto his pants, grimacing. “I have no clue what to do,” he admitted. “Do you think you’ll make it to the hospital?”

The accompanying cringe spoke for itself. “No,” breathed Mahiru. “It hurts too much. You’ll have to call an amb .. ambul -” His eyes rolled up and he began to fall. Lawless eased him to the ground before that could happen, red pooling into the sand, a stained outline taking shape.

His memories were trying to overlap, a pretty blond woman standing with her head high before her death was suddenly in front of him. Poised to meet her execution. She spoke of peace and understanding, wishing the best for a world that wished her the worst. Then the image faded and before him flashed the result of staying his hand, of waiting. He tore his fangs into his wrist without thinking any longer, his own blood flowing out and dripping to mingle with Mahiru’s. _You can’t die. I won’t let you die. Not this time, I promise._

As soon as the blood took root and ran its intended course, there was a shapeless darkness that stood up and took notice in his mind. It began to hiss, _You fool, what have you done?_ His muddled thoughts cleared and he began to see properly once more, taking in the seeping black that was coiling around Mahiru, strangling him.

He gasped and jumped back, out of reach of the black tendrils that tried to reach out for him. _What’s going on?_

 _An Eve can’t become a Subclass. He belongs to someone else_ , answered the darkness, _so now you pay for your transgression._

The black finally managed to catch up to him, slithering up his leg and pulling him down. Thin needles felt like they were digging into his skin, latching on and draining him of resolve. It was a sinking feeling of knowing he had done something unforgivably wrong and yet knowing he would do it again if given the same opportunity. _I can’t die,_ his thoughts had changed _, I won’t die. And Mahiru will be_ mine _._

In response, the black loosened its hold, the spikes folding back into itself. It caressed him instead, whispering, _Be good to him or we’ll be back_. Then it blended into shadows and disappeared.

Getting back on his feet, he approached Mahiru and knelt once more at his side. “I guess I’m going to be a little greedy this time,” he told the boy, brushing brown bangs away from Mahiru's face, eyes closed in sleep and at ease from pain. “Nothing can come of nothing,” Lawless recited, “so speak again!” And they would, oh they would. At the cost of a broken bond, but at least not at the cost of another life.


End file.
